Chapter 23

“Is this some ploy to get in my shorts?” Lara asked.

“Those are technically my shorts,” he said. “But no, I can assure you I am not trying to seduce a sad nurse that’s been locked out of her apartment and regularly threatens me with physical violence.” He had a playful glint in his eyes, but there was sincerity there, too.

She shrugged. “As long as we’re on the same page.” She hopped up and followed him to his bedroom. “I get to be the big spoon, though.”

“Of course,” he agreed. “It wouldn’t make sense any other way.”

Lying in bed with Zavien felt shockingly…right. Their conversation flowed, and when it didn’t, their silences were warm and easy instead of awkward and uncomfortable.

Even when Zavien caught her off guard by kissing her good night.

The kiss was soft against her head, and it left her blushing like a schoolgirl, which she knew because he had told her so. She responded by calling him an asshat. His reply was another peck.

Catching on to this cause and effect, Lara continued to label him as an ass or a bastard, but all she got was a breathy laugh and a nonsexual kiss. It seemed Zavien had been serious about not trying to get into her—his—shorts.

Unfortunately, his determination not to do it only made her more determined to have it done; all she could think about was being seduced.

It was making her cranky.

And despite their agreement that she would be the big spoon, they had comfortably settled into the opposite. Every moment that passed in which his hand rested on her hip without copping a feel infuriated her further.

So now, she was horny, crabby, and the little spoon.

Today was just not her day.

She shifted closer to him, pressing her backside into the cradle of his hips. She wasn’t entirely sure what she had hoped to accomplish, but it served as a reminder of how uncomfortable the heat between her legs had become.

When his hand flexed on her hip, and a long breath blew past her ear, she paused and swallowed hard, not realizing how tight her throat had gotten. His hands and his lips had been tempting enough, but what now pressed against her ass made her gasp in surprise.

“Lara,” he murmured into her ear, “what are you doing?”

“Just getting comfortable.” She had aimed for an innocent, sleepy tone, but instead, she sounded entirely guilty.

His doubt was clear as day in the rumbling hum he responded with.

After a few minutes, she moved again, wiggling her ass against him and smiling when his hand gripped her tighter.

“Lara.” His voice carried an edge that had her thighs clenching together.

“You have a small bed,” she whispered. “I was getting a little too close to the edge.”

“I know the feeling,” he mumbled dryly before pressing his lips against her jaw. For a moment, things seemed to be looking up, but that moment passed when he scooted back and away from her, taking his hand, lips, body heat, and her ass cradle with him.

She peeked over her shoulder to glare at him, but she could hardly make out anything in the darkness of the room.

“Better?” he chirped.

She resisted the urge to growl in frustration and instead huffed in complaint. “Now I’m cold.”

He hummed sleepily, but she knew in her heart that he was faking it, trying to get a rise out of her.

Two could play it that way.

She reached back, got a good hold on the blankets, and gave them a hard tug. Zavien grunted behind her as all the sheets bundled up around her. “Much better.” She sighed happily, making a show of burrowing into her cocoon.

“I should’ve left you out in the rain,” he grumbled.

She flipped onto her other side to gape at him. “God, you are such an ass! Why would you even—” She broke off when she saw his smirk. “You’re seriously doing all this on purpose?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said with a shrug.

In rolling over, she had once again landed herself in his personal space. She wasn’t sure what was worse—how annoyed she was with him or how badly she wanted him. The arm he then snaked around her waist only amplified both those feelings as he pulled her into his chest.

“You are so irritating,” she gritted out, and leaned her head all the way back so she could look into his eyes.

“Am I?” he asked innocently. “Would you like to go back to the couch?”

“Would you like me to shove my foot up your ass?”

He chuckled, his body shaking from the act and making hers bounce with it. A shiver ran down her spine. “Still cold?”

“You’re infuriating.” She twisted her hands into the collar of his T-shirt, debating whether to yank him toward her or shove him off the bed. Tension forced her shoulders up to her ears, and she panted from frustration, her breath mingling with his as they stared at each other.

And then they were kissing.

Lara wasn’t sure who had initiated it, but their lips parted, their mouths slanted together, and their hands clutched and grabbed at each other in a frenzy.

She couldn’t seem to pull him close enough, no matter how hard she tugged. He seemed amused by this, but she was more concerned with the feel of his skin at her fingertips as she slipped her hands beneath the hem of his shirt.

Desperate for skin-to-skin contact, she rolled away just far enough to tug her top over her head and shimmy the drawstring shorts down over her hips. She almost laughed at the shock on Zavien’s face.

“Are those cherries?” His eyes were glued to her crotch, where, indeed, a pair of cherries was embroidered on her panties. “Very cute.”

“Thank you. They’re my favorite,” she said breathlessly. Her eyes had adjusted fully to the darkness, and she could clearly see his eyebrow lift and his lips curve in a smirk. “I mean my favorite fruit. I love the taste.”

“Do you?” he asked, his voice gravelly and low.

She swallowed. “Of…of the fruit.”

“Of course.” His smirk widened. “What did you think we were talking about?”

Lara wasn’t sure how he always managed to fluster her, but somehow, she had ended up back on the ropes as he leaned in closer, angling his body halfway over hers. “I can’t believe any one person can be this smug and annoying,” she said with a groan.

His hand splayed out across her stomach, and his fingers brushed the waistband of her underwear as he continued smirking down at her. His eyebrow lifted when she clenched her thighs together.

“And I can’t believe you would rather stare at me with your stupid face than ~really~ touch me.”

Now, both of his eyebrows lifted. “All you had to do was ask, Lara,” he said before lowering his lips over hers.